First
by Nina Vale
Summary: Qrowin week 2019. Day 1: First. Qrow Branwen met Winter Schnee for the first time, during a cold Atlesian night...


**Qrowin Week: **

**Day One: First**

**Part 1/2**

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**It's a slight canon divergence. Obviously. **

**I don't own RWBY. Also obviously **

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The first time Qrow met Winter Schnee, it was on a cold, winter night. The forest was deep asleep under a thick, white blanket of snow. The only sound was the crunching of his boots, and the only light came from the broken moon. He sighed, and rubbed his arms. He ought to find some sort of shelter. He was getting tired, and knowing the Atlesian weather a peaceful night could turn into a snowstorm in matter of minutes. He ventured a bit deeper into the trees, when he heard the unmistakable sound of a horse neighing. Who could it be? Other hunters? Maybe he could join their camp. He turned towards the direction the sound came from. He heard the neighing again, this time louder and then came the sound of hooves. In mare seconds he saw the animal running in his direction. It was clearly spooked. He made a few steps forward and when it passed him, he grabbed the rains. He could feel the leather and the metal, or silver decorations brushing over his palm, as the horse tried to get away.

"Easy, there, easy" he said, keeping his voice low and calm "it's alright, it's alright"

The horse, pulled a bit, but finally calmed down enough to stand still. Qrow smiled and ran his fingers across it's nose. Now he could take a better look at the animal and it was beautiful. It was light gray, with chocolate face and ears, and brown mane that went from chocolate to mahogany. It's legs, from knee down were black. His eyes moved to the bridle and reins. The leather was blue, and had indeed silver sterling ornaments, in shapes of large buttons and an elaborate design that looked like a lace doily. Whoever this horse belonged to had to be wealthy…

"Silber!" his reverie was broken by a posh feminine voice. He turned around and saw a young woman, running towards him. She had a royal blue cap with fur trimming, She wore a matching knee-length coat with cut-out sleeves, underneath of which peaked out silver skirt and sleeves. Her small hands were covered with dark-blue gloves. As she approached, he could make out more details. She was very pretty, tall and slender, with peachy skin and gentle, angular features. Her eyes were big and as blue as winter, morning sky.

He waited for her to catch up. She barely looked and nodded at him, taking the reins out of his hands and fussing over her horse.

"Silber, how could you run out on me like that?" she admonished, though there was more worry in her voice than anger or annoyance "there are Grimm here and wild animals too! You could've been eaten by a wolf or a tiger!"

She continued in such way for quite a while more, causing Qrow to chuckle. That made her finally acknowledge his presence. Immediately she moved away, her hand traveling to her side to retrieve a sword, he hadn't previously noticed.

"Who are you?" she demanded

He raised his hands in the air

"Whoa, whoa, Little Ice Queen, there's no need for violence" he said "and answering your question name's Qrow. Qrow Branwen, and I'd be the guy who calmed down your horse, so show some gratitude, maybe?"

The young woman's eyes winded and her face crimsoned over as she turned away.

"I-I'm sorry" she said at long last "I...it's you can never be too cautious these days"

Well, she wasn't wrong there. She was a young woman, a wealthy young woman at that. Alone in the middle of the night, in a forest. He couldn't really blame her for being suspicious of a strange, older man in tattered clothes, and with a sword tied to his back.

"But thank you for calming down Silber, Mr Branwen, sir" she continued, bowing her head and curtsying. He chuckled at the sight.

"No need to call me sir" he said "Qrow is just fine. Everyone calls me that, well with the exception of my students at Signal. But that's a different beast altogether"

The young woman's interest piqued at the last mention.

"You're a teacher?" she asked "at a Hunter school? Does that mean you're...a Huntsman?"

"Hey, don't sound so surprised!" he cried, slightly offended "I'm one of the best"

She looked him up and down, with raised eyebrow.

"You're pretty...rugged and messy" she pointed out. He rolled his eyes

"Well, ice queen, this job is rather dirty. Unlike the Military and you rich folk, we travel by ourselves, mostly on foot, public transport will only take you so far"

She opened her mouth to say something, clearly offended by one or both of his statements, but she decided against it.

"Um...sorry" she said "I haven't introduced myself...my name is Winter"

"Just Winter?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Winter bit her lip and looked away, suddenly very awkward, and shy. He noticed she'd stiffened too...and was playing with her fingers behind her back. He'd recognized that behavior…

"Yeah, just Winter" her tone clearly said that she wasn't going to reveal more details. He didn't push. He sort of understood her. He'd the same reaction when people asked him about his family. He really didn't want to remember that he'd been a bandit at one point. It was something he'd wanted to leave behind. He was about to say something, when he noticed the off way she was standing, and remembered that she did grimace quite a bit when she was running before. His eyes fell down to her shoes, and he saw she was indeed trying to keep her weight of her right one.

"Show me your ankle," he said, and at once regretted his words, because Winter leveled him with such a glare that if he hadn't been around Glynda and Raven for a good portion of his life, he'd be a dead man.

"What?" she hissed. He rolled his eyes

"You're favoring your left side" he explained "and your stance is off. Not to mention the hissing and grimacing. I'd like to see if you haven't hurt yourself too badly. I have first aid kit with me"

She looked at him and then at her leg and blushed. For a moment she looked like she was going to argue back, again but she let out a sigh instead.

"Fine" she said "thank you..."

They both looked around for something to sit on, and noticed a bend down tree. Winter eyes it warily but walked to it, hopping on it to sit down. She of course hissed in pain as her leg protested against such a treatment. He shook his head and after tying up Silber to one of the branches, he crouched down in front of her mistress. He unbuttoned her boots and took them off as gently as he could. He repeated the same thing with her stocking, and he could feel her blush even from where he was standing. He could also feel his own cheeks heat up. He wasn't by all means a prude, quite on the contrary but there was something about this whole situation that just made him feel uneasy.

"It doesn't look broken" he said, gently feeling her ankle "it is a little swollen, but I think it's just a sprain"

She hummed in response, and he reached for his first aid kit, and pulled out some bandages.

"How did this happen, anyway?" he asked "and what were you doing in the middle of the night in a forest? Not to be biased, but it doesn't seem like a place for young posh ladies"

"I'm not posh" she protested and he could hear the pout in her voice "but" she sighed "I guess I can tell you, you have calmed down Silber after all, and you are giving me first aid. My family had this gathering tonight, and I needed some air. So I decided to go for a little ride. Not far, just around the edge of the woods, but Silber got spooked by something and ran off. The ice was slippery underneath the snow and I fell off her at some point"

He nodded, it still sounded a bit reckless to him but he couldn't say he blamed her. If he was stuck at a posh party he'd want out as soon as he could. He smirked a little.

"You're quite a little rebel, aren't ya?" he asked

"I'm not little" she protested "I'm over 21, you know"

"Well, a big rebel then" he offered, and winked up at her, causing her to giggle. It was a very pretty sound. Like wind-chimes. It wasn't long when he finished wrapping up her leg.

"There" he said "it should be alright. Though I'd go to see a doctor later"

She nodded, and put on her stocking and shoes.

"Thank you, Qrow" she said "it was very noble of you to help me out. After all, you don't really know me"

He waved her off

"Hey, I'm a huntsman, remember?" he asked "it's sort of our thing to help people out"

She smiled. In that exact moment the sky clouded over and snow begun to fall.

"I better get going" said Winter "it looks like it's going to be heavy"

He nodded in agreement.

"How far is your home?" he asked

"Well...it's been about an hour or two since I left, and then half an hour until I met you" she replied

"That's quite far" he said "do you want me to walk with you? Only for a little while" he added, noticing her expression "it's safer in numbers"

She pondered a little bit on his words before nodding. They set off, on foot with her holding Silber's reins.

"So" he started, not wanting to fall into an awkward silence again "are you any good with the sword? You've reached for it rather quickly..."

"Yes" she said "I did receive some training, and I've graduated from the Atlas Academy two years ago. Top of my class"

He whistled. While he wasn't big fan of Jimmy and his indoctrination he had to admit Atlas wasn't a bad school. Quite on the contrary, it was very good and much stricter than Beacon in many ways.

"And you?" she asked "where did you graduate from? Shade?"

"Beacon" he answered "I was part of team STRQ, the best team that ever graduated that academy"

"My sister wants to go there come spring" she said.

"Not Atlas?" he questioned, surprised

"She wants to carve her own path. I'm very proud of her. I wish I could have same courage when I was her age..."

She paused, looking away. The awkward feeling begun to creep up and Qrow massaged his neck.

"Sometimes you don't have another choice" he said "you have to follow the easier path. Often so others can go further"

A small smile appeared on her face

"That almost sounded wise" she said

"Well, I can be smart when I want to" he winked at her "I am a teacher after all"

She giggled. The spend rest of the way, talking quite amicably about the academies, teaching jobs and all their first missions. Winter laughed out loud when he told her about the prank Tai played on him back at school.

"You must have been quite a sight" she commented, wiping away a tear

"Hey, I looked good" he said "I'll have you know I was 80% leg even back then. Still, it sort of warmed me up to Tai...and we've been friends ever since"

"That must be nice" she sighed "to have such good friends and stay together for so long..."

There was something in her face and voice when she said it, that told him that growing up, she didn't have many friends and that nowadays wasn't so different. His heart went out to her. He knew that feeling all too well. Until STRQ he didn't have anyone either, except Raven. The tribe straight up hated him and the other parents told their children to avoid him, even though he was the chieftain's son.

"Hey, you alright?" Winter's voice once again, brought him out of his musings and when he turned to her, he noticed a spark of concern in her blue eyes

"Yeah" he said smiling "just remembered something...it's not important. But I agree friends are good to have, and Tai as annoying as he sometimes can be is the best there is. Hey, if you pass by Vale and have some time, ask around for me. I'll introduce you"

A shadow passed over her face, but she smiled

"Sure" she said "I'll keep that in mind"

They walked a bit further when finally they saw a tall building, almost golden from the shining lights. Winter's face fell

"That'd be my home" she said "I guess I wasn't as far away as I thought I'd be..." she turned to Qrow "I'll take it from here...thank you for everything again"

He looked her up and down before nodding. He wasn't going to push it. In this instance she had better knowledge than he had.

"Pleasure's all mine" he said "Goodbye then, Winter"

"Goodbye, Qrow" she said. With that, she mounted Silber and rode off in a trot. He watched after her, for a moment. He still felt a little uneasy, and there was a part of him that still wanted to know her surname. There was no harm in following a little bit, right? He quickly turned into his bird form and followed. Winter slowed down before the gates, and looked around. When she saw there were no guards, she opened the gate and silently entered the garden. Qrow, sat on the branch just in time to see her go. He watched intently until she disappeared and the gate closed for good. His eyes winded when it did, and he almost fell off the branch. On the shiny, silvery metal there was a large snowflake. Now he understood why his new acquaintance didn't want to talk about her family. Winter was, Winter Schnee. The eldest daughter of the family.

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**So here it is. I hope it's not too late to post it for the week. it's a first part of two. Not all one-shots are going to be connected to this one. Some might be to my other one-shots or stories. I'll see. This one is a two-shot of sorts. Winter's coat and cap are based of Polish Nobility Clothing(Polski strój szlachecki. If you're on go to my AO3 account bc I'll post it there. Along with bridle and horse. It's sometimes hard to post links to stuff on this site. **


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